Quackery usually involves integrating metaphysics and such things as sympathetic magic
with healing. Often, but not always, the major quality of quackery is fraud and the
dispensing of useless or harmful treatments to vulnerable people who are
dying. What quackery lacks in scientific study it sometimes makes up for by prescribing generous portions of caring—sometime
sincere but often counterfeit—and overdoses of false hope.

Quackery is short for quacksalver and probably has
nothing to do with the sound made by ducks. Quacksalver derives from two
Middle Dutch terms and seems to mean healing with unguents.
However, quacken means to boast, so a kwakzalver might be a
healer who boasts, in which case medical quackery would be an
oxymoron. Another possibility is that a kwakzalver is somebody who applies ointments or unguents haphazardly. The verb kwakken roughly translates as to throw something (on) carelessly or haphazardly.

The United States has a long history of quacks
abusing the legal system by filing nuisance lawsuits aimed at censoring
criticism. So far, the U.S. courts have sided with free speech against
censorship. We still can't call people frauds, even if it is obvious to a
certified moron that fraud is what is going on, unless a person has been
convicted of fraud in a court. Referring to people as quacks, kooks,
nutters, buttheads, or any of the more offensive names popularized by
comedians, rappers, and bloggers usually get a free pass in U.S. courts. On the other hand, quacks can say
pretty much whatever they want in response to their critics. Dr. Stephen
Barrett of QuackWatch fame, and
Dr. Terry Polevoy of
Canadian
Quackery Watch, for example, unsuccessfully sued Ilena Rosenthal for
making the following statements that were ruled not
defamatory by a U.S. Court:

Dr. Barrett is arrogant, bizarre, closed-minded;
emotionally disturbed, professionally incompetent, intellectually
dishonest, a dishonest journalist, sleazy, unethical, a quack, a thug, a
bully, a Nazi, a hired gun for vested interests, the leader of a
subversive organization, and engaged in criminal activity (conspiracy,
extortion, filing a false police report, and other unspecified acts.)

Dr. Polevoy is dishonest, closed-minded;
emotionally disturbed, professionally incompetent, unethical, a quack, a
fanatic, a Nazi, a hired gun for vested interests, the leader of a
subversive organization, and engaged in criminal activity (conspiracy,
stalking of females, and other unspecified acts) and has made
anti-Semitic remarks.

In Holland, however,
a federal judge has ruled
that calling someone a quack (kwakzalver) is equivalent to calling
him a fraud. The court ruled that kwakzalver conveysto the
general public that someone is a swindler and practices medicine
unlawfully. The court based its decision on what it considers the most
authoritative Dutch dictionary at present. Critics of quackery might often
believe that the quack is a swindler but that is not their usual meaning.
From a critic's perspective, a quack is not always a swindler but he or
she is always promoting or practicing a treatment of which the supposed
benefits are unsubstantiated. This does not mean that there is no
evidence for the quack treatment. There are always
testimonials from satisfied customers
that can be cited as evidence any treatment works. There are sometimes
poorly designed or incorrectly interpreted studies put forth to support a
quack treatment. To say a treatment's alleged benefits are unsubstantiated
means that there is no compelling evidence supporting its claims of
efficacy. Usually this means that the treatment has not been
scientifically tested, that the scientific evidence for its efficacy is
very weak, or that it has consistently failed scientific tests of its
supposed benefits. Many quack medical practices have endured for decades or centuries and much study has gone into trying to figure out why they appear to be efficacious. The following are considered quackery by most defenders of science-based medicine: acupuncture, chiropractic, detoxification therapies, faith healing, homeopathy, iridology, naturopathy, reflexology, and therapeutic touch. One area where quacks seem to circle is among those dying of cancer.

Since most quacks have good intentions and are
simply deluded about their work, the Dutch court has eliminated quackery
by requiring that a quack be an intentional swindler. The court has found
an efficient way to eliminate both quackery and criticism of dangerous
kooks by its ruling. Kevin
Trudeau should be proud.